"Courtney Thomas" wrote in
nk.net:

I have a couple of older VHFs that I'd like to keep as backups and was
wondering
if anyone has replaced the batteries in the packs themselves.

I have disassembled the packs but see that the batteries require
soldering small
metallic strips in a certain configuration to provide proper voltage,
etc.

My question: HOW to properly solder the new batteries, hopefully
easily
:-)


Just take the battery packs to any Batteries Plus Store
(www.batteriesplus.com) or ship it in if there's no store near you. Tell
them you want them to install the biggest capacity Nickel-Metal Hydride,
NOT NI-CD, cells they have. Since your cheaply made little Chinese NiCD
battery pack was made, long strides have been made in the battery biz.
Current AA sized Ni-Mh cells are 2300 maH (2.3 ampere-hour) and will
produce nearly enough current to crank a truck. Look on the battery
packs at the labels and you'll see it's, probably, a 700 maH NiCd pack
from the Chinese slavers....whatever was as cheap as they could get it to
maximize profits. Your new 2.3AH same-sized beast will take 4 times as
long to charge on the chinzy Chinese battery charger the walkie came
with.....but that's not an issue because it will RUN over 3 times as long
as it did the day you bought it before you have to charge it again.

Ni-Mh also has NO MEMORY problem, so you can use it and drop it back in
the charger, no matter what its state of charge is. Don't leave it in
the charger over a week...(c; Cheap chargers are NOT automatic shutoff
like your cellphone. When the battery pack gets quite warm to the touch,
it's fully charged.

The 2.3A recycled beast is about half the cost of another chinzy Chinese
cheapie from Standard or Icom or Waste Marine, etc.....

As to doing it yourself, forget it. You cannot solder to the cells. You
need a special little spot welder to weld the interconnecting straps on
the cells. Batteries Plus has one in every store. He touches the strap
to the cell, pushes up on it to make contact with the spot welder,
there's a little spark as the pulse from the welder makes a perfect weld
to the cell, which never even gets warm in the process. There'll be two
welds about 1/2" apart on the strap so it can't rotate. It'll take a
good set of pliers to pull them off and even then it rips the metal of
the strap because the weld is stronger than the strap....